In recent years, Libya has become a major transit destination for migrants and refugees undertaking the dangerous journey to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), up to 90 percent of people crossing the Mediterranean towards Europe depart from Libya.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that up to one million migrants are currently residing in Libya.

Last year, nearly 120,000 people arrived in European Union member countries having travelled through the Mediterranean from North Africa, according to IOM.

More than 20,000 refugees are estimated to have died attempting the crossing to Italy, in southern Europe, in the past four years, the IOM estimates, making it the deadliest border for refugees in the world.

Around 90 migrants drowned after a shipwreck off Libya's western coast on February 2, two weeks after Italian coastguards rescued some 1,400 refugees from overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean.